SALISBURY, Md. - The No. 2 Salisbury University
women's lacrosse team defeated their second No. 1 team this season
as the Sea Gulls defeated top-ranked The College of New Jersey,
11-6, on a cold and rainy Saturday at Sea Gull Stadium.
Junior Beth Rhodey, the reigning Capital
Athletic Conference Women's Lacrosse Player of the Week, scored a
game-high five goals and added one assist to pace the Sea Gulls
(14-1). Senior Robyn Bishop (one assist) netted
three goals, two in a pivotal 4-0 run to begin the second half
where SU jumped out to a 9-4 lead with 15 minutes left in the game.
Salisbury's defense rose to the challenge against one of the top
scoring teams in the country. Senior goalie Sonja
Stuart (13-1) matched her season-high save total with 11
stops against the Lions. She made 11 saves against third-ranked
Franklin & Marshall College on March 29. Senior Sarah
Maggio and junior Maddie Goetz led the
defense in front of Stuart as they held TCNJ's leading scorer
Alison Jaeger (42 goals for the season) to one assist.
TCNJ (10-1) entered the game with the No. 1 defense in Division
III with a 5.67 goals against allowed per game but surrendered a
season-high 11 goals to Salisbury. Sophomore goalie Mary Waller
suffered the loss in between the pipes for the Lions as she made
five saves.
Rhodey scored the game's first two goals just four minutes and
18 seconds into the contest. TCNJ responded with three straight
goals, two from Robin Deehan (four goals), to take a 3-2 lead. That
was the only lead for the Lions in the game. SU scored three of the
final four goals of the half to take a 5-4 lead into the half.
Salisbury's three goals came from seniors Ashleigh
Gender, Bishop and Courtney Sorenson.
Salisbury outscored TCNJ 6-2 in the second half as Bishop scored
twice and Rhodey netted three. The other goal was scored by
sophomore Meagan Osipowich.
The Sea Gulls outshot the Lions 22-20, scooped up 22 ground
balls and made 16-of-22 clear attempts as the maroon and gold
received a strong team effort in the win. SU scored three free
position goals, all in the second half. TCNJ won 10-of-19 draw
controls.
This is Salisbury's third straight win over TCNJ in a series
that has been dominated by the Lions. In the past seven matchups SU
has won four. TCNJ won the previous 19 meetings as the Lions hold a
21-5 record against Salisbury. TCNJ had to forfeit a game against
SU in 1992.
The victory completes a sweep of last year's final four teams.
Salisbury beat defending national champion Hamilton College 12-9 on
March 18 in San Antonio, Texas. The Continentals were ranked No. 1
in that game. SU followed that with a 10-9 road win over No. 3
Franklin & Marshall College on March 29.
Salisbury will next host University of Mary Washington on
Wednesday, April 15, at 4:30 p.m. in the final Capital Athletic
Conference regular-season game. A win by SU will lock up the No. 1
seed for the upcoming CAC tournament.
